A Family That Prays Together Stays Together

I caught a clip of Jace saying a prayer. He has learned to clasp his hands together and say Amen! 

This morning Jace was eating his banana for part of his breakfast and I asked him to say a morning prayer

Isn't he sweet?!? :)

He even knows before we eat he says a prayer. We sometimes have to remind him but he knows when we say "lets pray" it means to put his hands together, pray then say Amen.

I never knew he would learn this so quickly but I am proud to see that we are modeling the right behavior and habits for him to pick up on.

So, Justin caught the stomach bug! YUCK! Poor guy was at work all day and was exhausted. He ended up with a migraine on top of all the tummy issues.

I am tired of these germs......as a friend of mine has recently said "It seems like everything that has gone around has landed right on the Bryan doorstep" - ain't that the truth!

Give me a break....Give me a break.....Break me off a piece of that....well its hard to find something that rhymes with that.

In One Week

I met with the ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) ladies today to go over all the paperwork concerning Jace and the services he will receive. We all agreed that our goal is in 6 months to be able to understand more of what Jace is trying to say when he speaks and to know if his speech "delay" is a hearing issue or an actual delay. They gave me some ideas to help when we are talking to him like to get down on his level when talking to him. Also, whatever object we are talking about, put that object close to our mouths so he can see the movement of our lips when pronouncing the words.
JB and I were given homework as well. We need to make a list of sounds that he can already make. I know he has mastered "d", "a", "b", and "e" sounds.....most of his words he leaves off the beginning consonant. When he says Please it's "Ease", Light is "Ight", Fan is "an" and Amen is "A-den". At this point we can't not say for sure that this is a normal progression for him since we know he has ear troubles and possibly hearing reduction. I pray that if there is any issue with his language that it is completely resolved by getting his ears cleared up. We will know how well his hearing is on April 20th when we go to the ENT follow up.

Next Wednesday will be the first day Jace gets services from ECI. This program is incredible and such a blessing! They are going to help me find out about medicaid waivers and other programs that may assist us with the financial burden that Tuberous Sclerosis can cause. The best part of this program is that they come to Jace! They come to his daycare and I don't have to miss work to take him to appointments. I would in a heart beat do so but the fact that I have this amazing option is so great.
There is another little girl in his class that receives services so Jace is familiar with the therapist!

Mercies in Disguise

I have been hearing this song lately and ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!

Blessings

Artist: Laura Story

Album: Blessings

We pray for blessings

We pray for peace

Comfort for family, protection while we sleep

We pray for healing, for prosperity

We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while, You hear each spoken need

Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears

What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near

What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom

Your voice to hear

We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near

We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love

As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

All the while, You hear each desperate plea

As long as we have faith to believe

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not our home

What if my greatest disappointments

Or the aching of this life

Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy

What if trials of this life

The rain, the storms, the hardest nights

Are your mercies in disguise

And this is the story behind this song......

Isn't voice just so beautiful and danity? What great talent she has been blessed with!

Come to find out Jace's tummy issues over the weekend was not a side effect of his ear infection. He did indeed have a bug. I woke up this morning and felt a little nauseous. I put it off as thinking it was because I didn't eat my breakfast soon enough after my vitamins because that has made me sick before. But once I got to work and still felt yucky I started to think maybe it WAS a bug.

Well a while after telling JB that I felt bad he came back and told me that Kristen said all 3 of her boys were having tummy troubles last night! I feel SO bad about that. I wish I had known Jace actually had a bug. She does not deserve to have to deal with that right now in all the trials she is facing of her own. What a blessing it is that she doesn't get fed up and forbid Jace from being around her little ones. Jace LOVES to share.....especially his germs and with Lincoln and Grant. This time he shared it with the newest, Conley, too. I hope he continues to share as he gets older - we just need to learn to be a bit pickier in what he shares!  

Bouncing Boys

This past weekend we went to Lexington to work more on the barn and visit with family.

PEEK A BOO!!!

100 % PURE BOY!!

Let me see that camera......

Oh Hey thats me in that camera :)

Cheese!!

Mommy and me

While Daddy worked on the barn Jace played in the sand........with tools.......the ladders......anything he can get into he was into it! He is 100% PURE BOY!

I can climb the ladder just like Daddy

Taking a walk with Daddy

Filthy!!!

 Justin's brother and his family were in. Jace got to spend time with his cousin Lincoln. They were having a blast on Saturday dancing and copying each other.

Monkey see Monkey do!  

Jace and Lincoln dancing and bouncing around

The barn is *THIS* close to being finished!

I can not wait to stay there......it looks like we will get to this coming weekend!

Now to pick out the paint colors........this is the fun part!


Over the weekend Jace woke up Saturday night and vomited - and all I had to catch it from going EVERYWHERE were my hands. YUCK! This came out of nowhere and after today I know why. Apparently ear infections can make your tummy have troubles. Poor baby boy has had trouble with his ears. After having a hard time sleeping and being so cranky yesterday it clicked that he probably has an ear infection starting. This morning when he woke up with a crusty nose I knew that HAD to be the case. I took him into the ENT and we are back on antibiotics and ear drops. Praying they work this time. If we don't get it cleared up with this or another infection occurs shortly after this we have to look into getting tubes again (since they are probably blocked) and having his adenoids removed. We go back in 3 weeks to check his ears and see if his hearing has been affected. I am PRAYING that his hearing is ok and this hasn't done too much to keep him behind on his language.

Sneaky Sneaky

Jace has been fascinated by zippers for a while now but I don't think he ever sat down and tried to figure them out........until today.

I never realized that Jace could reach so much in the back seat of the car from his car seat. I try not to put too much stuff near him because I know if he can reach it easily he will get into it, tear it, bite it, whatever.....its getting destroyed!

Driving home from work today Justin put his lunchbox on the backseat and it was not something Jace could have gotten to THAT easy. I noticed Jace had grabbed it and was looking very intently at the zipper on the lunchbox. About 5 minutes later Justin and I hear this scraping like noise......we look in the back and see this

He managed to figure out the zipper and found the apples left over from Justin's lunch.

Jace was chowing down on those apples!!

He knew he was being sneaky too. Everytime we looked back there he would just grin and giggle with a mouthful of apple! Justin and I just laughed about this with each other and at one point Jace was cracking up with us. It was so cute!

Here is a video clip of his sneaky apple tactics:

After we got home, made dinner and played I realized I ALMOST forgot to give Jace his medicine. Evenings like this where he acts like any other toddler makes it hard to remember that he does need medicine and he isn't just any other toddler. I won't let this get me down......God is working His healing hand on Jace and he IS any other toddler but with a great testimony! :)  

Change of Plans

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I had plans this past weekend that filled up my weekend. Justin was going to work on the barn and Jace and I were staying in Houston. Friday I went to a consignment sale to see if there was anything that we had to have for Jace. I ended up leaving there with just a new swimsuit and rash guard for Jace. It was only $3 for those two pieces and they were Osh Kosh brand!!

I picked up Jace after the sale and was planning to head to the Woodlands Mall to pick up my wedding ring when I received a text from my friend that was planning to visit for the weekend. She was not able to make it so I decided we would head out to Lexington! :)

I was really excited to take Jace to the Children's Museum as planned but we will have to reschedule that. As bummed as I was about that I was equally excited to get a chance to go to the land, see the progress on the barn AND see my Sweets!

Jace and I made it to Lexington and went to see the barn.

A box really is one of the best toys for kids!

Saturday as Justin worked on the barn some more, Jace and I went with Misty and Keely to College Station. She had a few errands to run and I figured it would be a fun way to get out and about.

We went to a few stores and Jace was great. I have to keep bragging about how great the Beco is for us. He naps when he feels like it in it. I never imagined he would actually enjoy the Beco as much as he does.

Sunday before heading back to Houston, Justin and I went fishing. We took Jace out there - this was his first fishing experience. He was tired so I put him in the Beco and he napped while we fished. JB caught a nice sized bass in the tank on his brother's land.

Fishing wore this little booger out! :)

JB stayed in Lexington to meet with a few more people that were going to work on the barn while Jace and I headed back. I REALLY wanted to get my ring from the jeweler so we went on to The Woodlands Mall. With Jace being in the grouchy mood he was that morning I was not looking forward to a 2 hour drive! Luckily he was calm and eventually napped for half of the drive. We got to the mall, picked up my ring (it looks brand new again), and then went shopping a little bit. I happened to come across a great sale at The Children's Place. I got Jace a few solid color polos to go with the plad shorts he has tons of. Not only were these on a great sale $5 a shirt but I also had a 15% coupon!! SCORE! :)

We finally made it back to our house. Jace was happy to be back at home and I caught a few cute clips of him.

He has been trying to figure out how to put his clothes on and take them off. He has managed to get clothes off but the putting them back on has been a bit trickier - and entertaining!

When he plays in his play room by himself I think its precious!

As you can see in this clip - he is almost guaranteed to be left handed!

He's Just a Natural Born Cowboy

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We went to the ENT for the WAY overdue follow up for his tubes. What actually forced us into making this appointment was the fact that he has had 2 ear infections in one ear and the other was starting to drain. We mainly skipped his 6 month post-op appt for his tubes because it was suppose to be in October. We were dealing with MUCH more greater issues with his seizures.

Come to find out Jace has a double ear infection......his left tube is mostly out and the right tube is still intact and draining properly. We were put on antibiotics orally and drops for his ear. We go back and I PRAY they are healed up. If not we may have to look into getting another set of tubes and possibly removing his adenoids. I don't want this to happen but if its needed then we will go that route.



Does this face look like he has double ear infections?



JB went to Lexington to work on the barn and so it was a weekend of just Jace and I getting to spend time together. Saturday morning we woke up, ate breakfast and went grocery shopping.

Here are some cute clips of Jace playing after breakfast.

Jace was exhausted while shopping so while he enjoyed the ride in the Beco he napped.

Actually a few people thought it was quite funny to see him zonked right out!

I am so blessed to have such an easy going baby boy! 

After we got home Jace at his lunch......we were planning to go to the park later with cousins.

CHEESE!!

After his REAL nap we went to Mary Jo Peckham Park . We met up with his cousins, Ryker, Brayden and Dani. The kids had a blast playing on the playground but talk about work! Those little guys are FAST and in a semi-crowded park is not a piece of cake! HA! I wish I could have visited with Lauren and Sheri a bit more but I am glad we were able to make a date to meet up for the boys to play.

Jace, Brayden and Ryker
Not the best picture but getting a pic of three (almost)2 yr olds isn't easy

The park wore Jace out but when we made it home he for sure caught a second wind! :)

He eventually settle down on time to go to bed.......I was hoping he would sleep well since we were losing an hour of sleep for daylight savings time. I don't get the point of that!

Sunday Jace and I went to the Woodlands Mall so I could drop off my engagement and wedding rings to get "pampered". They needed to be cleaned, inspected, the works....its been almost a year since I have been there to get them take care of.

It was a gorgeous day and after the mall we walked around the Market Street in the Woodlands.

Jace was being silly on the way home from The Woodlands

 

Reading his book and resting after a long day at the mall with Mommy

Jace woke up this morning with WILD hair....there were curls in places I didn't know he had curls in his hair at. I was planning to wet it down before going to school so it didn't look like I let him leave the house all undone but I forgot! :) Oops.....it was cute though.

Crazy hair day

I started to feel a little under the weather on Saturday and it just progressively got worse since then. Today at work I had to leave early for Jace's Orthopedic appointment so I left earlier than expected to go to the clinic we have at work. I wanted to be sure that if I have strep that I catch it early since last year I waited WAY too long! I actually thought I was jumping the gun and they were going to laugh at me, say it was a virus and send me home with lozengers. My strep test came back positive.....YUCK! But I am glad I was able to get something before the pain got unbearable. It hurts now but my pain tolerance is pretty high.

Jace's orthopedic appointment ended very well. Apparently his bow legs are VERY normal. Kids tend to peak with bow legs at 18-19 months of age. The doctor even showed me a picture of a "normal" child with bowlegs at 18 months and it was WAY worse then Jace's. I agree with everyone that he is indeed very bowlegged BUT I now know that it is very normal!

He is just a natural born cowboy ready to saddle up and ride on out!

I have been slowly getting Jace's growth chart made and here is what I have done so far.

Dark Blue Stars on the Light Blue Background (matches his room)

Manly striped letters that have the perfect colors to match the border in his room!

I still need a few more colors of paint to finish but I should have this done in NO time!!!!

Well that is if I can find the time! :)

It is time to go to bed.....its WAY past my bedtime and going to bed late isn't great when you are sick......Momma's have no time to be sick

Finally We Caught a Break!

I have slowly been trying to wean the pacifier from Jace. It took him a while to not want it during the day, then I took it from car rides, then naps, and then started on the bedtime weaning.

He used to have 3 pacis in his crib at night so if he lost one the others were easier to find. We slowly took one paci out each week until this week. I wanted to just go cold turkey starting Sunday but it didn't seem that was going over well. I cut the tip of the paci and gave it back to him - I still had to hold him until he fell asleep. After the next two nights I realized he was fussing Sunday night because he wanted Mommy or Daddy. We are entering yet another phase of separation anxiety - I don't mind this and embrace him wanting us :) I still left the paci in his bed but stuffed it in a corner/edge of the mattress. Last night I went in to see if he hadn't touched it and he hadn't.

So I took it out of his crib and to my knowledge he didn't wake up crying for it!

Tonight I wanted to try once again putting him to bed without the paci in the bed at all......SUCCESS!!!!!!

He laid down, reached around the crib a bit then fell right to sleep!

I am SO happy we got off easy with the paci weaning!

Bownanza Bash

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This past weekend we were SO busy!!!

Friday night JB and I went on a date. We planned on going to dinner then a late (9:50 pm) movie. After dinner we realized we were NOT going to make it through a movie that didn't start for another hour and 20 minutes! HA! So we went home and went to bed.

Saturday morning we woke and brought Jace to our room. We love these lazy weekend mornings :) 

After breakfast JB and I headed off to College Station for the annual Texas Bowhunter's Bownanza!

The whole group at Bownanza

Mmmmmm....Crawfish!

The most exciting part of this was we got to meet the Fielders!! This was the couple that helped us out when Jace was low on medicine earlier this year. God blessed us tremendously bringing the Fielder family into our lives. I love how they love God as much as we do!

So glad we finally got to meet Paul and Michelle Fielder

There was a guy at Bownanza that looks JUST like Tommy Lee Jones! HA!

Michelle and I had to get a picture with him! :)

That evening JB and I went out with friends. It ended up being a rough night and the next day was not the best. Despite how we felt the next day we had to drive home that morning.

Jace had a birthday party to go to for Lincoln's 3rd birthday! And his party was at Chuck E Cheese. Lincoln's face was PRICELESS throughout his party. He was the picture of pure excitement! He didn't understand the process of getting tickets to get prizes so his excitement was pure and it was so sweet! Seeing his cuteness made the fact that I felt so bad all better. That little boy is so precious!

This was Jace's first trip to Chuck E Cheese. It was seriously sensory overload for him! Lights, movement, and kids EVERY. WHERE. I tried to put him on a little car but as soon as it started going he freaked and clung to me. I found a little slower car that he enjoyed and we rode that twice.

Papa Bryan was at the party and Jace loves his Papa. Isn't this the sweet picture ever!??!?!

Jace and I HAD to get the neat sketch picture done. He was sleepy by this time so he was not all too interested in sitting and getting a picture taken.

On the way home from the party Jace was talking in the back seat of the car. It was too funny because he was whispering and making faces :)

Monday morning Jace was evaluated by ECI - Early Childhood Intervention. This is a program provided by the state for children under the age of 3. They evaluate children to see if they need physical, occupational or speech therapy. Since Jace has Tuberous Sclerosis he automatically qualifies and the evaluation was mainly to see where he stood so we could decide if we wanted/needed therapy and how often.

After the evaluation, the scores came back as:

Motor Skills - 24 months

Self-Help Skills - 20 months

Social/Emotional Relationships - 20 months

Communication - 17 months

Had he not had a medical diagnosis that qualified him he would not be considered delayed enough for assistance. They normally say the children should be 3 or more months behind to qualify. Since he does have a medical diagnosis they will provide services to him. This will be to mainly monitor him and make sure he continues to progress properly. I am pretty sure that he is not behind due to his seizures but because he is 100% boy!! :) He loves to move and as you can see he is very advanced in that area. There is no need to talk if you can get up and get stuff yourself! We will go along with the services for speech since it can not hurt anything at all.

Today Jace had his 3 month check up for his eyes. Although there is no way to thoroughly check him out from what we can tell he checked out PERFECT! :) 

I wish we didn't have to go see an eye doctor every 3 months but its for the best since he is on Sabril and it can cause vision loss.  

This coming Friday we will see Jace's ENT to finally follow up on hsi tubes that we had done last year. Also, we have an appointment with an orthopedic for his bowlegs. I PRAY PRAY PRAY they say this is something he will grow out of and it requires no intervention.

After these appointments I am hoping they will be the last until his follow ups in June and July! I am tired of doctor appointments.

Oh - and to add to prayers - please pray that Jace easily transitions to bedtime without a paci. We have slowly removed the extra paci's from his crib and now he is on the last paci I attempted to remove it from the bed. He was NOT happy that night. I cut the tip of the paci and gave it to him. He took it and went to bed. I do not know what was going on that night. Even last night he was screaming at bedtime and he had the paci in his crib. I think he has been struggling with seizures right before bed. I had to hold him until he was completely out last night. While I was in his room holding him I could tell he was not really relaxing yet. I caught a glimpse of his eyes and I could see my poor baby was staring wide eyed from a seizure. UGH I hate seeing these and to know he was SO upset right before hand. I wish he could talk to tell me what goes on so I know how to better help him feel better. God is working His healing hand - Jace's seizures are much less frequent and intense. Jace is being healed and I know there will be a day that he or we will never worry about a seizure again! Tonight he went to sleep easily but his "bedtime" seizure happened in the shower before bed. He laid down and went to sleep without looking for his paci that I stuck in the edge of his mattress. I am pretty sure when I do take it completely out of his bed he will do ok. :) Just pray for my patience and his understanding that he is a BIG BOY now.

Scooter Tooter

Last week I went to a consignment sale for baby stuff. I found a cute cd of the top 30 Toddler Songs, a bath net and a Razor Scooter Jr. that is a ride on. Jace LOVES this scooter! He is my little scooter tooter! :)

Not only does he like to ride on the scooter but this little tooter likes to climb using it!

He is growing up TOO fast!

After climbing on the couch with his scooter he went on to show me that he can climb on to the rocking chair/recliner without anything to help him up.

In the evening when Jace starts getting sleepy this is what I see a lot of....

"UP"

I can't resist - I love holding my baby boy! :)